ABC Settles Defamation Lawsuit with $15 Million Contribution to Trump’s Presidential Library
ABC News has agreed to settle a defamation lawsuit by donating $15 million to support the construction of Donald Trump’s presidential library. The settlement stems from an inaccurate claim made by anchor George Stephanopoulos during a March 10 segment of This Week, where he falsely stated that Trump had been found civilly liable for raping writer E. Jean Carroll.
As part of the settlement, ABC News published an editor’s note on its website, expressing regret for Stephanopoulos’ statements. The network will also pay $1 million in legal fees to Trump’s attorney, Alejandro Brito.
The $15 million contribution is designated as a “charitable donation” and will support a non-profit tied to Trump’s yet-to-be-built presidential library. “We are pleased that the parties have reached an agreement to dismiss the lawsuit on the terms in the court filing,” said ABC News spokesperson Jeannie Kedas.
Trump’s spokesperson declined to comment.
The agreement was signed on Friday, the same day a Florida federal judge had ordered Trump and Stephanopoulos to give separate depositions. The settlement means no testimony is required.
ABC is required to transfer the $15 million donation to an escrow account managed by Brito’s law firm within 10 days, along with payment of Brito’s legal fees.
Although significant, ABC’s contribution is just a small fraction of the total cost of Trump’s presidential library. By comparison, Barack Obama’s library in Chicago was projected to cost $830 million as of 2021.
Trump filed the lawsuit after ABC aired the segment, during which Stephanopoulos incorrectly claimed Trump had been “found liable for rape” and for “defaming the victim of that rape.” Neither of Carroll’s civil lawsuits found that Trump raped her, as defined under New York law.
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In the first trial, Trump was found liable for sexually abusing and defaming Carroll, leading to a $5 million judgment. A second trial in January 2024 resulted in an additional $83.3 million judgment for defamation.
Trump is appealing both verdicts. Carroll, a former advice columnist, publicly accused Trump of raping her in the mid-1990s at Bergdorf Goodman, a luxury Manhattan department store. Trump has denied the allegation, claiming he did not know Carroll and had never encountered her at the store.
After Trump insulted her, calling her a “nut job” and accusing her of fabricating the rape claim to sell her memoir, Carroll filed a defamation lawsuit seeking damages and a retraction of Trump’s defamatory denials.
In April 2023, Carroll testified, saying: “I’m here because Donald Trump raped me, and when I wrote about it, he said it didn’t happen. He lied and shattered my reputation, and I’m here to try and get my life back.”
Carroll described the alleged assault, claiming Trump pushed her against a dressing room wall, kissed her, and sexually assaulted her while she struggled. She said she managed to escape.
In upholding the $5 million judgment in the first trial, U.S. District Judge Lewis Kaplan explained that the jury had found Trump guilty of sexual abuse but did not meet the narrow legal definition of rape under New York law, which requires vaginal penetration by a penis. He clarified that the jury’s verdict did not negate that Trump had sexually assaulted Carroll, as commonly understood by the public.
